Poll: Most Are Opposed to Congestion Pricing

New York City voters oppose congestion pricing by a two-to-one margin, a new poll shows.

While a majority of voters called traffic congestion in Manhattan a "very serious" problem, they said imposing a fee to drive into Manhattan below 60th Street would hurt the city's economy.

The results of Quinnipiac University's first poll on congestion pricing raised eyebrows among transportation experts, who criticized the pollsters for asking questions that underscored only the potential costs of congestion pricing without demonstrating the benefits the pricing scheme could bring to New Yorkers.

Different forms of road pricing have been implemented in London, Singapore, and San Diego to reduce traffic on busy streets. In New York, traffic is costing the city and its suburbs more than $13 billion a year, according to a study released by the Partnership for New York City in December. Congestion pricing is one traffic-reducing option Mayor Bloomberg has said New York City must consider.

The poll released yesterday asks voters if the city should add tolls to the free East River bridges, and 78% of respondents said it was a bad idea. "Who's going to say you should toll something that's free?" the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, said. "No one votes for new charges unless you know it's going to make your life better."

While Mr. Bloomberg says congestion pricing is not likely to be passed by lawmakers in Albany, he said yesterday it should remain an option for reducing traffic in Manhattan. "The city should never close its mind to any procedure that will improve the quality of life. Whether congestion pricing could do it, I don't know," Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday following a conference at Columbia University.

Before London adopted congestion pricing in 2003, polls showed that residents opposed the charges, but attitudes later swung in favor of the pricing scheme after it was implemented and citywide traffic was reduced by 17%.

Council Member David Weprin, who has been leading the campaign against congestion pricing, said he was pleased with the results of the poll. "It's a good example of reflecting public opinion," Mr. Weprin said. "It's not just people from Queens and Brooklyn who oppose it."

With 55% of voters calling traffic in New York a "very serious" issue, the poll documented a new awareness of the city's growing traffic problem. "Traffic wasn't even on the list of people's priorities before," Ms. Wylde said. "Up until recently, the general public wasn't aware of how serious the problem was, but that change showed up in the poll."